Judicial liquidation in sight for Habitat, the British contemporary design brand. In receivership since Wednesday December 6, 2023, the company with 450 employees is in serious financial difficulty. The commercial court will rule on December 28, 2023 on the judicial liquidation of the brand. A worrying situation, both for employees, whose future is uncertain, but also for customers, who have already paid for furniture or decoration whose color they will never see. According to a source close to the matter, who engaged in franceinfothe amount owed to the thousands of customers of the brand waiting for their merchandise is of the order of 8 million euros. However, if the compulsory liquidation is pronounced by the commercial court, “the company has no obligation to deliver to its customers”explains Me Malik Guellil, lawyer in corporate law, to Capital.
Who is paid first in the event of compulsory liquidation?
To try despite everything to be reimbursed by the Habitat brand, Customers concerned must report themselves as quickly as possible. with the legal representatives who will represent them in the upcoming procedure. They can do it on the site habitat.procedurecollective.com via a dedicated form. They will have to provide their RIB as well as proof of payment for their order, which will obviously not be able to be honoured. However, an expert in the case specifies franceinfo that THE “Prospects for reimbursement are poor“. Indeed, once the judicial liquidation has been declared, the procedure first provides for a reimbursement of employees who have not received their salaries, then a payment to the tax authorities, before considering the reimbursement of the brand’s customers. , specifies an expert from Capital.